Rice warns of 'Made in America' solution in Iran
Friday, June 27, 2003 - ©2003 IranMania.com
LONDON, June 27 (AFP) - US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has indicated that the United States is ready to act alone against Iran and North Korea if European countries do not cooperate in stopping them from developing nuclear weapons, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday.
"If we do not want a 'Made in America' solution, let's find out how to resolve the issues of North Korea and Iran," the paper quoted Rice as saying during a visit to London Thursday.
Rice sought to play down the prospect of a war against Iran, saying: "We do not ever want to have to deal with the proliferation issue as we did in Iraq."
However, according to the right-wing Telegraph, her comments had echoes of the blunt talking that surrounded the debate before the Iraq war.
Rice accused Iran of seeking secretly to build nuclear weapons, and vowed that North Korea would not be allowed to "blackmail" the world with threats to resume its nuclear programme, according to the newspaper.
But she said the US sought international cooperation and that Iran's programme was best dealt with by convincing Tehran to agree to intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Addressing the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Rice said North Korea was best addressed by regional powers exerting pressure.
But she did not rule out military action, the Telegraph reported. "The avoidance of war is not in itself a final goal," she said. "Sometimes one has to fight wars to deal with tyrants."
Later she added: "We want a multilateral solution. But we do want a solution.
"Post 9/11, the sense of urgency to have solutions to these problems has grown," she said, in reference to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.
"The absence of action is not a solution. Sometimes multilateralism is code for not acting."
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